In the first year of eligibility since admitting its inaugural class in 2007, CoP ranked 74 out of 135 schools of pharmacy in the United States. Of the 42 new pharmacy programs established in or after 2000, only three programs ranked higher.

“These rankings are based on expert opinions about program excellence, so to garner attention at all at this stage of our development is solid recognition of our progress,” said Dean John M. Pezzuto. “Of course, our eventual goal is to achieve ranking in the top 25 of all colleges of pharmacy. We are confident in our ability to achieve this goal once we are housed in our permanent College of Pharmacy facility.”

Each year, U.S. News and World Report ranks professional school programs in business, education, engineering, law, and medicine, though the magazine does not rank all programs every year. Pharmacy schools were last ranked in 2009. The next ranking is scheduled to take place in 2015.

“We will be even better positioned at that time to move upward,” said Dean Pezzuto. “We will be ready.”

The data come from surveys of administrators at more than 1,200 programs and nearly 15,000 academics and professionals, conducted during the fall of 2011 and early 2012. As has been the case for many years, the University of California-San Francisco was ranked the number one pharmacy school in the nation.

“This is the first time a UH Hilo graduate program has been identified in the U.S. News & World Report so we are indeed proud and optimistic that we will be able to continue an upward trend,” said Chancellor Donald Straney. “This is tangible proof that students graduate from our program with a top-notch education in a unique environment.”

The only fully accredited school of pharmacy in the Pacific region, UH Hilo CoP also offers a PhD in pharmaceutical sciences, a Bachelor of Arts in Pharmacy Studies (BAPS), a Masters in Clinical Psychopharmacology (MSCP) for members of the armed forces, and a residency program in community pharmacy. For more information on the College, visit http://pharmacy.uhh.hawaii.edu/.